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It was a mad dash through the woods, breaking branches and thundering feet in the underbrush. When Jean-René skidded into the clearing, the teams converged on nothing more than a grassy meadow, heavy with fog as the morning sun cracked over the top of the volcano.
“Tabernaque!” Jean-René wanted to pitch his camera into the mist. He resisted the urge. He set it down with more force than he’d intended. “Merde!”
“You didn’t see it?” Bahati panted, nearly doubled over with the exertion of her own chase.
“Did you?”
“We thought we were right on its tail.” She stood with her hands on her hips, catching her breath.
“What was that?” Joshua asked.
“I never got a good look at it,” Pauline said. “But it sounded big! Huge!”
“But you didn’t see it?” Jean-René asked.
“Just in shadows. It moved so fast.” Joshua sat down on a stump, wiping his brow with a bandana. “We’re just chasing ghosts out here. Let’s go back to camp. I’m hungry.”
Jean-René nodded. “I bet Rowan and Lauren will have breakfast ready.”
* * *
When they arrived back at camp, the fire had gone cold, and there was no sign of breakfast, much less Lauren and Rowan. A broad grin spread over Jean-René’s face. “That dog!”
“What?” Bahati paused. “Where are they?”
“He said he’d talk to her,” Joshua said. “They should have been back by now.”
“Oh, I’m sure he’s giving her a good talking to,” Jean-René said. He had a glimmer in his golden eyes and a strongly implied innuendo in his voice.
Bahati shook her head. “Whatever!”
“Come on, I’ll cook breakfast,” Pauline said. “If they need time to talk, or whatever, they can have it. We’re not likely to see any more of our fuzzy friend now that the sun is up.”
* * *
“Lauren?” Rowan ran to catch up to her. When he caught her arm, she turned and buried her face into the middle of his chest. He was helpless to do anything more than wrap his arms around her. “Are you okay?”
“You and Jean-René think I’m crazy.”
“Nobody said that.”
“You don’t have to,” she sniffed, pulling away. “It’s written on both of your faces.”
“Lauren,” he caught her hand, and pulled her back into him. “Nobody thinks you’re crazy.”
“But ...” she started to protest.
“Look. We all know something happened to you. I can’t explain it, but I will admit that it frightens me. All this talk about the rabbit and Tsul’Kalu ... it’s not like you. You and I both know that. We’re worried about you. That’s all.”
Lauren looked down, carefully guarding her feelings. “I have lived my whole life being the odd one. When my brother went into engineering, he was seen as bright and brainy. When I went into biological anthropology I was seen as a nerd. I was told women couldn’t do science. They said I should just get my teaching certificate and teach high school biology.”
“Look, you’re a fantastic scientist. You’ve never needed to prove that to anyone. Least of all me. I know you think you have to prove something, but you don’t.”
“I may not have to prove it to you, but I saw the tabloids in the airport in San Diego. I know what they’re saying about me ... about our whole team, and I won’t have it.”
“It’s not your job to protect everyone’s credibility.” Rowan softened his tone, hoping to soothe her. “We didn’t need to come back here for you to prove anything. You know that, right?” Rowan knew he’d made a mistake the minute the words came out of his mouth. Fire flashed in her eyes and her jaw clenched.
“You know we had to come back,” she snapped. “And you know why.”
“But at what risk?” He started, but her eyes flashed in the darkness. “Lauren.” He started to rephrase his argument, but she flipped around so fast her braid whipped, smacking him in the face as she stomped off.
Standing in the aftermath of his mistake, Rowan put a hand on his hip and pursed his lips. He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. He rubbed his face and shook his head. “Lauren,” he called after her. She didn’t answer. The crunching of the rocks and dirt beneath her boots told him she hadn’t even slowed down. He took another moment longer to regain his composure, then set off after her.
* * *
The terrain grew more uneven as they got closer to base camp. The trail narrowed. He could hear her moving ahead of him, but she still wasn’t answering him, and her pace hadn’t slowed. “Lauren, please.” He heard her come to a skidding stop on the rough terrain, less than a dozen paces behind her. The sliver of sunrise through the trees was just enough to illuminate her features as she froze. She turned towards the clearing. The look on her face told him she’d seen something. He crossed the distance between them before she moved. He came up behind her. A dark shadow melted into the dense vegetation up on the ridge and Rowan was certain he’d seen the flash of eye-shine for a split second. “Did you see that?” Rowan nudged her.
“I did,” she said. Her voice was a haunting whisper.
“Was that your Tsul’Kalu?”
“No,” she said. “But maybe one of his friends ...”
“Well come on,” Rowan pressed past her and started up the hillside. “Let’s go find it.”
* * *
They followed the lumbering noises through the woods at a quick pace. Lauren made better progress than Rowan. He was breathless and bathed in sweat. I’m too old for this, he thought. There was the sound of a sudden scuffle and Rowan saw a flash off the reflector on Lauren’s jacket as she tumbled to the ground. It startled him. He couldn’t see her pick herself up.
Frantic, he skidded down the rocky hillside. He wove through the saplings that separated them. When he got to the spot where she’d fallen, or where he’d thought she’d fallen, she wasn’t there. “Lauren?” He raised his voice, calling out her name again. She’d been right there! He never saw the fist coming at him.
It caught him square in the throat. He stumbled back, turning as he fell to his hands and knees. He gasped. He couldn’t breathe. A boot caught him in the ribs. Any air he had left in him, was knocked out. Ribs shattered on impact. Jagged bone grated against his lung. He landed flat on his back, looking up at the face of the man that had kicked him. Beside him appeared the face of none other than Bigfoot himself. “Son of a...!” He heard Lauren swear. The world spun and he lost his grip on consciousness, peering into the eyes of Bigfoot.